Method of operating a coke oven battery



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Patented June 28, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 J'OSEPII BECKER, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG-NOR T0 THE KOPPERS COM- PANY, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION `CF PENNSYLVANIA METHOD 0F OPERATING A COKE OVEN BATTERY Application filed August 5, 1921.

Y This invention comprehends improvements of general utility in the coking retort oven art, and also comprehends certain'improvements especially applicable to coking retort a ovens of the well-known cross-regenerative type exemplified in the patent to H. Koppers, No. 818,033, dated April 17, 1906, and in my prior Patent No. 1,374,546, dated April i2, i921.

The invention has for objects the provision of a coling retort oven having, as important characteristics: a system of regenerative operation which permits employment of the combination oven principle without any nef' cessity for varying the size of the duct connections between the regenerators and the flame flues in converting such a coking retort oven from operation as a gas oven, i. e., with the employment of an eXtraneously derived gas, such as producer gas for fuel, to operation as a coke oven employing coke oven gas as the fuel. Coke oven gas and producer gas are widely dierent in their characteristics. Coke oven gas is a relatively rich 45 gas requiring for proper combustion a relatively large volume of 'air supplied at a relatively high velocity, in order to avoid flame concentration in the lower regions of the flame flues. On the other hand, producer J gas, being much poorer in quality, requires for proper combustion a relatively smaller air volume supplied at a relatively reduced velocity. In combination ovens, the regenerators which are employed for supplying preheated producer gas to the flame flues, during producer gas operation, are, when the oven is converted to coke ovengas operation, employed for delivering air to the Hues, as well as the other regenerators which supply air, whether the battery be operating with producer gas or with coke oven gas. That is to say, during coke oven gas operation all of the regenerators supply air to the flues', during the in-flow period, Whereas, during producer gas operation, some of the regenerators supply air and others supply producer gas. The regenerative area of the battery employed for air, is thus approximately doubled, with respect to the in-iow, whenever a combination oven battery is converted-from Serial No. 490,084.

producer gas operation to coke oven gas operation. Inasmuch as the duct connections between the regenerators and the flues must be made large enough to handle the relatively larger volume of producer gas, which flows into the flame flues` at a relatively reduced velocity, it follows that when theseA regenerators are employed for delivering 1air, during coke oven gas operation, the duct connecpromote the requisite velocity in flow ofthe air. This plugging operation, however, in a coke oven battery of commercial magnitude is a tedious and lengthyone and it is the purpose of this invention to supply to the flues of a combination oven, during coke oven gas operation, air in the requisite volume and velocity, by the novel expedient of restricting the regenerative area that operates at any one time for in-iiow of air and causing the entire volume of air required for combustion in the fiame flues to pass through this restricted regenerative area and thus to increase the velocity of the air flow to a degree which avoids flame concentration. This is accomplished by causing thev air to travel through only a part of the regenerative. area operating for in-ow, at any one time, while the remainder of the in-flow operating regenerative area remains for the time being substantially in-operativeV as regards the flow of gaseous media to the flues, and then effecting a reversal, during the same in-flow period, which renders iii-operative that part of the regenerative area which previously supplied the air and utilizes the previously in-operative part of the regenerative area for the air supply to the flues.

In addition to the general objects recited above, the invention has for further objects such other improvements or advantages in construction and operation as .are found to obtain in the structures and devices hereinafter described or claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthe specification and showing, for purposes of exemplification, a preferred form and manner in which the invention may be embodied and practiced, but without limiting the claimed invention to such illustrative instance or instances:

Figure 1 is a cross-wise vertical section through the coke oven battery embodying the cross-duct connection means of my prior Patent No. 1,374,546 and equipped with the improvements of the present invention, the view being taken longitudinally through a coking chamber and a pair of regenerators in planes indicated by the line A-A of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a composite vertical sectional elevation taken longitudinally of the coke oven battery, in planes indicated by the lines D*D, E-E, and F-F of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a composite vertical sectional elevation taken transversely of the coke oven battery, in planes indicated by the lines BB and C-C of Fig. 2;

Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views of the regenerators and connected parts illustrating the mode of operation of the improved reversal system of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the regenerators of the coke oven battery showing in plan the various connections and devices for reversing the flow through the regenerators and through the flues;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken longitudinally of the battery through the air boxes and Waste gas tunnel or stack flue and showing the reversing connections on one side of the battery;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 but showing the reversing connections on the other side of the battery; and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional elevation taken in a plane indicated by the line H-H of Fig. 6.

The same characters of reference designate the same parts in each of the several views of the drawings. Y

In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the invention is incorporated in a combination coke oven battery, i. e.-a battery having provision for being operated either with producer gas as the fuel, or with the coke oven gas derived from the distillation of the coal in the coking chambers or retorts of the battery. For convenience, the present description will be confined to the present illustrative embodiment of the invention in such a combination coke oven battery, the novel features and improvements made by he invention are susceptible of other applications, such for example, as other heating furnaces embodying the regenerative principle; hence,the scope ofthe invention is not confined to the specific use and specific embodiment herein described as an illustrative example.

Referring to the drawings, there are illustrated views of the coke oven battery or plant of the by-product type, having features above specified; said oven battery employing in its construction a plurality of crosswise elongated heating walls 11, 11, and a plurality of intermediate crosswise elongated coliing chambers 12, 12. The heating walls 11 form tire superstructure of the oven battery, and

are themselves supported upon a flat mat or platform which constitutes the sub-foundation upon which the entire battery rests. The coal to be coled is charged into the several coking chambers or ovens through charging holes 14 located in the top 15 of the oven battery and Apositioned directly above the ovens or chambers 12, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. These charging holes 14 are equipped with the usual removable covers, which are removed during charging of the individual ovens or cokingchambers and are placed in position to close the tops of such ovens during the entire coking or distilling operation. The gasesrof distillation pass from the tops of the several coling chambers 12 through gas outlets 16 and thence through ascension pipes (not shown) into the usual gas collecting main which carries the distillation products to the by-product apparatus.

Heat for coking the charges of coal in the several ovens or chambers 12 is derived from heating walls 11 which, as above mentioned, extend crosswise of the battery at the sides of the coking chambers. particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, each heating wall 11 is constituted of a plurality of flame or combustion flues 17. The flame flues of each heating wall are, in accordance with the present application of the invent-ion, operatively disposed into a single group, that is to say, all of the flues of each heating vvall operate concurrently as up-flow or down-'flow flues, as will be hereinafter more fully explained. When the flame tlues on one side of a coking chamber are burning, that is to say, operating for up-low, the flame lines on the opposite side of the same coling chamber are operating for down-flow to permit e3;- haust of the waste gases.

The crosswise regenerators 18 of the retort oven are located at a lower level than aforesaid coking chambers inthe retort oven and, in the present instance, extend in parallelism between the pillar walls 13 and the Referring now more lULl other heavy supporting walls hereinafter described. Located in the middle lengthwise vertical plane of the battery is a vertical partition 19, as shown in Fig. 1, which partition extends all the way up from the mat of the battery to the bottom of the overlyingcoking chamber and from one to the other of the pillar walls 13 and the other walls which are between the pillar walls. The regenerators, which are respectively located on the opposite sides of the battery, extend inwardly to said partition 19 and are separated thereby, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. Each regenerator 18 is a chamber containing open briclwork, commonly called checkerwork, and indicated at 20 with a distributing sole channel 21 underneath such ch'eckerwork, the channels .forming the soles of said chambers and opening up into the checkerworl. As shown, a heavy vertical gas-tight supporting wall 22 extends directly beneath the coking chamber in parallelism between each two adjacent pillar walls 13. Such supporting walls 22 respectively provide two regenerators located on the opposite sides of each of such walls 22 and between adjacent pillar walls 13.

The regenerators are heated, in alternation, by the hot combustion products that draw off from the flame or combustion fines hereinbefore mentioned and then impart such heat into the media that they feed into these tlues. As shown, the series K and L of regenerators that are respectively located on opposite sides of the battery, as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, are each operatively disposed in two groups M and N. Each group M or N comprises a pair of adjacently disposed regenerators, and the pairs of regenerators constituting the groups M alternate with the pairs of regenerators constituting the groups N. The regenerators of each pair M or N are respectively provided with a series of ducts 23, the ducts of both regenerators of apair leading respectively to individual flame flues 17 of the same heating wall, it being understood that each duct 23 is provided, as usually, with the usual gas controlling means, such as the customary sliding bricks 231, for restricting the ducts 23 for regulation of gas flow therethrough. With this construction, each flame iue 1 communicates by a pair of ducts 23 with adjacent separate regenerators of a pair. Y

The entire series of flame flues 170i each heating wall 11 is either burning or operating for down-flow to convey waste products to the regenerators beneath and consequently the regenerators alined on opposite side of the central partition 19 operate concurrently for flow in the same direction and in the same manner. The lreversal in flow through the flame tlues on opposite sides of a coking chamber and their communicably connected regenerators may thus be said to take place longitudinally ofthe battery instead of transversely thereof as has heretofore been a common practice in this art.

Each flame flue 17 has at its-top a port or opening 24 for draft and the passage of combustion products from the llame and in the flue. vThese ports 24 open up into horizontal or bus lues 25 formed in the heating walls and being in the present instance, two of such horizontal iiues positioned end to end with respect to each otherl in each heating wall. As shown, the two horizontal flues of each heating wall are communicably connected by means of passage walls 26 respectively with the corresponding horizontal lues of one of the next adjacent heating walls. These channels 2G preferably open up into substantially the middle portions of their respective connected fines, as shown in Fig. 3, and extend longitudinally of the oven battery, as shown in Fig. 2. Thus the entire flow from the heating wall, within the tlues yof which combustion is being maintained, passes downwardly through all of the lines of the next adjacent heating wall, each reversal operation being accompanied by a reversal in direction of the flow through all of the fines of each heating wall. The draft through the ports 24 may be regulated by means of the usual dampers or sliding bricks 27, positioned in the ordinary way in the bottoms of the horizontal ilues 25 and adapted to be reached by access lues 28 which extend from the top of the horizontal flues 25 in each heating wall to the top 15 of the battery, there being an access flue positioned over each iame flue of each heating wall.

Extending crosswise of the battery in each pillar wall 13 and located below the heating wall 11 therea-bove is al pair of gas supply channels 29 and 30. These channels 29 and 30 are for the purpose of supplying coke oven gas to the several heating iiues on each side of the central line T, and to accomplish this end, the channel 29 communicates with the individual flues 17 on one side of said line T by means of ducts 31 that lead from such channel 29 individually into the bottoms of individual iiues; and the channel 30 which supplies the several tlues that are located on the other side of the before-mentioned line T communicates therewith by means of similarly connected chiots. lVithin the several ducts are disposed the usual nozzles32. The supply of coke oven gas to the respective channels 29 and 30 is derived from coke oven gas mains of usual type and respectively located on the opposite sides of the battery and extending longitudinally therealong. Suitable means is provided for admitting or cutting olf the supply of gas with respect to each pair of channels 29 and 30, it being understood that the gas supply is either concurrently maintained or concurrently shut oil' from each pair. For operating the battery alternatively with the use of a special generator gas, such as producer gas, one regenerator of each pair M or N, when oper.- ating for in-fiow, may be optionally connected with a producer gas main, by mechanism such as is disclosed in my prior patent for a coking retort oven issued May 16, 1922, No. 1,416,322, so that the producer gas may be directed into each of the regenerators 13 as are operating for in-flow and conveyed through these regenerators into burning iame flues 17.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 6, 7 and 8, the sole channels 21 of the groups of regenerators M of both series K and L, respectively communicate with flow boxes 33; similarly the sole channels of the regenerators of the several groups N on both sides of the battery respectively communicate with flow boxes 34. This results in the arrangement of two series of flow boxes 33 and 34 along both sides of the battery, the flow boxes 'of each series being disposed into pairs, which pairs alternate with pairs of flow boxes of the other series.

The several flow boxes of the series 33 are provided with lids 35 for opening and closing the interior of the several flow boxes to the outer air, and the several flow boxes of the series 34 are respectively provided with similar lids 36. Each air box lid 35 is provided with a lid operating lever 37, and each air box lid 36 is provided with a simiv lar lid operating lever 38.

Two waste gas tunnels or stack flues 51 and 52 extend longitudinally of the battery, one on one side of the battery and the other on the other side, said stack fines leading to the usual stack. Each flow box 33 or 34 on one side of the battery is adapt-ed to be communicably connected with the stack flue 51 through a channel 57; similarly, each How box 33 or 34 on the opposite side of the battery is adapted to be communicably connected through a channel 59 to the waste gas tunnel 52. As out-iow is maintained concurrently in some of the regenerators on each side of the battery, both of the waste gas tunnels 51 and 52 operate concurrently to convey waste gases from the battery to the stack.

The rseveral flow boxes of the groups 33 on both sides of the battery are each provided with mush-room valves 60 for opening 'and closing their respective boxes relatively to the waste gas tunnels 51 or 52; similarly, the several flow boxes of the groups 34 on both sides of the battery are provided with simi* larlv functioning mush-room valves 61. The mush-room valves 60 are operated by valve operating levers 62 and the mush-room valves 61 are operated by valve operating lever 63. All of the valve operating levers of the series 62 and 63 are controlled and operated by a single cable 3 which leads to the damper'reversing machine 65. On one operation of said machine 65, all mush-room valves of the flew boxes 34 on both sides of the battery are opened to establish communication between such flow boxes and the waste gas tunnels 51 and 52, while concurrently the mush-room valves of the other groups of flow boxes 33 are closed to cut off such flow boxes from communication with the waste gas tunnel; on reverse operation of the machine 65, the mush-room valves of the groups of' Yflow boxes 33 are opened while the mush-room valves of `the groups of flow boxes 34 are closed; to establish communication between the flow boxes 33 and the waste gas tunnels and concurrently to shut off the flow boxes 34 from communication with said waste gas tunnels.

According to the invention, the lid operating levers 37 of the groups 33 of flow boxes on both sides of the battery are controlled and operated by the reversing cable 2 leading to the air valve reversing machine 66. Similarlv, the lid operating levers 38 of the groups of air boxes 34 on both sides of the battery are controlled and operated by the reversing cable 1 leading to the air valve reversing machine 67. As shown, a single operation of each reversing cable 1 or 2 is effective to open only one air box lid respectively of the pairs of its corresponding air box lids. Consequently. the operation of placing the several regenerators of the groups N on both sides of the battery in communication With the waste gas tunnels 51 and 52, by opening the mush room valves 61 corresponding to such regenerators will be accompanied by an operation of the reversing cable 2 that is effective, at this time, to open the air box lid 35 of only one regenerator of each group M that has been switched to the in-flow operation.

A reverse operation of the cable 2 is necessary to open the air box lid of the other regenerator of each group M but such reverse operation is accompanied by a closing of' the previously opened air box lid 37.

lVith the above described construction, it is thus possible, during coke oven gas operation, to require all of the air to flow through a single regenerator of each group of in-flow operating regenerators, while all of the regenerators of each group of out-flow regenerators are in communication with the exhaust. The principle of operation of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, which show diagrammatically the reversal system during a complete cycle of operation. comprising two complete half hour reversal periods. At the beeinning of a. reversal period all of thc groups of regenerators N are placed in communication with the exhaust and operated as waste gas regenerators lV. For the first fifteen minutes of the complete half hour reversal period, referring to the left hand side of Fig. 4, one regenerator A of each group M is placed in communication with the air for supplying air to the in-ilow operating flues, while the other regenerator D of each pair M remains in-operative. At the end of the fifteen minute interval, the reversing niachine 66 is operated to reverse the cable 2 so that the regenerators D of the groups M are placed in communication with the air and become air regenerators for the neXt succeeding fifteen minutes of the reversal period, whereas the regenerators A of the groups Mare cut olf from the air and become iii-operative with respect to flow through the flues. At the end of the complete thirty minute operating period, all of the regenerators of the groups M are placed in communication with the eX- haust and one regenerator A of each group N is, by operation of the reversing machine 67, placed in communication with the outer air, while the other regenerator D of each group N remain in-operative. Then this reversal period is substantially half completed, the reversing machine 67 is reversely operated to permit air to flow into the regenerators D of the groups N so that they become air regenerators A and to cut off the air from the regenerators A of the groups N so that they become non-functioning regenerators D.

The invention, as here-ineabove set forth, is embodied in a particular form of construction, but may be variously embodied within the scope of the claim here-in-after made,

I claim The method of directing the flow of air to the combustion lues of a battery of coking retort ovens having a series of alternate ooku ing chambers and heating walls therefor arranged side-by-side, each of said heating walls comprising combustion flues; rich fuel gas supply means for supplying unpreheated rich fuel gas to said flues for combustion therein; two sets of regenerators operable in alternation with each other for inflow of combustion media and outflow of waste gas, each set of regenerators comprising groups of regenerators each group of which is adapted, when operable for inflow, to'be jointly operable for inflow of air during combustion of said rich gas in said flues or alternatively separately operable to convey air and preheated leaner fuel gas separately and simultaneously to said flues for optional heating of the battery by combustion of preheated leaner fuel gas; and having the combustion flues respectively communicably connected by regenerator duct with one of the groups of regenerators in one of said sets of regenerators and gas controlling means for regulating gas flow through said regenerator ducts; which consists in: heating the battery by combustion of the richer gas in said combustion iiues and during said heating operating one of said sets of revenerators for outflow of waste gas while operating the other set for inflow of air, and, in the inflow set of said regenerators 

